Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State recommends $16 million in SmartScale safety funding for two Route 1 intersections in Caroline County
Summary
The Commonwealth recommended about $7.09 million for safety improvements at the Page Road–Marie Road intersection and about $9 million for turn lanes at the Lake Caroline Drive entrance; no local matching funds were required and the projects will proceed through CTB review and public hearings.
Caroline County supervisors were told this week that staff from the Commonwealth of Virginia and the secretary of transportation recommended funding for two SmartScale safety projects on U.S. Route 1 that together amount to about $16 million and would not require local matching funds.
The county’s transportation representative, Supervisor Jonathan (Jon) Black, said the projects are recommended for fiscal 2026 funding: $7,085,483 for safety improvements at the Page Road–Marie Road intersection and roughly $9,000,000 for turn-lane improvements at the Lake Caroline Drive entrance on Route 1. The Page Road project, Black said, was the highest-ranked safety application in the Commonwealth; the Lake Caroline project ranked in the top 15.
If approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Page Road work will add left-turn lanes in both northbound and southbound directions on Route 1 at the Route 605 intersection and will improve the northbound right-turn radius from Route 1 to Route 605. The Lake Caroline project would add a northbound left-turn lane and a southbound right-turn lane at Lake Caroline Drive and other measures “designed to eliminate confusion,” Black said.
Why it matters: the county will not have to provide matching funds for either project if the CTB adopts the recommendation, and both projects were scored highly by state staff for safety. The CTB will consider revisions to staff recommendations from February through April, hold public hearings from April through May, refine a consensus funding scenario in May and adopt a six-year plan in June.
Board reaction and next steps: Supervisors expressed cautious optimism. “That is really, really huge news… $16 million in funding that we don't have to, as the county board, put in ourselves, and it makes our roads safer,” Black said, noting earlier discussion and a prior fatality at the Page Road location. The projects still require CTB adoption, including the scheduled public hearings and the development of the six-year plan.
No formal vote on the projects occurred at the meeting; staff will monitor CTB schedule and return with updates as the public hearing process and CTB deliberations proceed.
